Advancing knowledge on loss and damage in the Caribbean

The Caribbean has recently been grappling with excessive heat stress due to elevated temperatures, humidity, and more frequent heatwaves, endangering vulnerable communities and heightening the risk of depleted agricultural yields, drought, coral bleaching and other detrimental impacts to the region’s economies and ecosystems.

Due to limited data and research, the costs of losses and damages from heat stress and heatwaves in the Caribbean have not been comprehensively quantified.

The IsLanD Advancement project, funded by Open Society Foundations, aims to:

• raise awareness of how this global issue directly impacts Caribbean islands
• significantly enhance the knowledge pool on how climate change affects the region with extensive research and analysis
• potentially increase access to the new Loss and Damage Fund and other finance by providing updated data

The IsLanD Advancement project will be carried out in 14 CARICOM states: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

It includes three components:

1. a research agenda on loss and damage for the Caribbean
2. a loss and damage dialogue for governments, civil society, academia, NGOs and the private sector to share knowledge and experiences on loss and damage at the local, community and national levels
3. education and public engagement on loss and damage